It is upon us. A New Year. By the way, Happy New Year to my fellow Bloggers, Writers and Poets! On that note, my mind is wondering (which it always is), where the idea or term “New Years Resolution” stems from.

What is a New Year without a few “resolutions” or what I call “wishes”. To me, a “New Years Wish” is the same as creating a mental wish before blowing out your birthday candles. A wish is something you would like or something you would like to work toward.

I do believe when you speak of your wants, needs and “wishes”, they do become more of a reality as you are speaking it out into the Universe. For example, when you say, “I’m happy”, your mind really believes it. The same is for being “sad, dumb or depressed”. The more you say whatever it is, your mind becomes that particular belief. This has been discussed in deepness by many Spiritual Authors (i.e. Don Miguel Ruiz) and Scientist are beginning to catch on to this theory. I mean, everything around us is living, even the air. So, when you say something whether it is positive or negative, there is a high chance that it shall come to life.

With that being said, I shall speak (in this case write, but speaking shall occur) my 2019 New Years Wishes NOT “resolutions”. Not resolutions? Why is that? Well, thanks for asking. I believe the word “resolution(s)” is a silly word to use when attempting to grow positively into a new year. Where did that word even come from? Why do we even associate that word with something that is supposed to be positive? Because I am who I am, I began pondering and questioning why we say “New Years Resolutions”, when in reality, the word “resolution” is a short and factual word. It means to make a definite decision to complete something or do something with no wiggle worm. To me, it is more of a negative word because when we say “resolution”, it means we are attempting to solve a “problem” or “dispute” something.

Hmmm….that’s NOT what my New Year’s Wishes are made of. My wishes come from my heart and soul. I make wishes not because there is a problem or dispute, but because I either want to grow spiritually, mentally or physically.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, it states a “New Years Resolution is a promise that you make to yourself to start doing something good or stop doing something bad on the first day of the year”

There it is, it is to change something “bad”. Yes, we are attempting to change “something”, but because I live a positive life, I don’t care much for the negative aspect or definition of using this word.

I dug deeper because that’s what I do when I’m questioning something. When you think about it, humanity began on a positive note. Somewhere on our timeline, humanity moved from positive to “bad”, so this idea of a New Year’s “Resolution” came from some dark root. But, my question is where?

According to History.com:

4,000 years ago, Ancient Babylonians were the first to make “New Year’s Resolutions” in honor of the new year. Their “resolutions” were actually “promises” (which is a positive idea) to their Gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed.

In ancient Rome, Julius Caesar messed with the months and established “January 1st” at the beginning of the “new year” around 46B.C. This was a special day for the Romans as they saw it as looking back into the previous year and moving forward to the future. They also made “promises” and offered sacrifices to their deity in order to have a good new year. (another positive idea)

In 1790, early Christians made a tradition on January 1st for thinking about one’s past “mistakes” and how to be “better in the future”. (Okay, here we go. This is the beginning of the negative thoughts! They (Christians) started the idea of looking at one’s downfalls, their wrongs and mistakes)

“New Year’s resolutions today are a mostly secular practice. Instead of making promises to the gods, most people make resolutions only to themselves, and focus purely on self-improvement (which may explain why such resolutions seem so hard to follow through on). According to recent research, while as many as 45 percent of Americans say they usually make New Year’s resolutions, only 8 percent are successful in achieving their goals.”

And there we have it! The term/word/thought, “resolution” was born around 1790. I am rejecting this negative connotation because I can! I fathom negative thoughts because I know that negativity is like a virus and if I can help it, I will stray from that virus.

My New Years Wishes are simple. I always try to stick to three, it is a number that is simply to reach.

To become more environmentally conscious in all areas of my life

To become healthier. To me that means eating food that will not only benefit me, but also my children, my husband and the environment. It also means becoming more physically active, so I can keep my heart and blood flowing.

To write more. With my busy life, I lack on my writing hobby. When I do write, I honestly feel more connected to who I really am. It empowers me. It is something that I cannot explain.

Like this:

As Americanos, we have been celebrating the day of thanks or what we call “Thanksgiving”. This day means so much more than what the media portrays it as, but I’m sure you already know that false lie.

“Thanksgiving” is not about Pilgrims and Natives coming together to unite. That whole ideal has been thrown out into the trash as we awakened to realize what really happened.

“Thanksgiving” is not about Black Friday and all the deals you are looking forward too. That is consumerism at its best!

“Thanksgiving” is a day of giving thanks to all that we have. It is being grateful for the little things such as your child’s laugh and their silly frustrations. It is being thankful for your health and a simple smile shone your way.

Below are ten reasons why I live, why I love and why I continue to thrive……

My 16 year old who is intelligent, an Anime nerd and my witty daughter. She is my first born and awakened me to what love truly is. When I look back at the days when she was born, I was so young yet I matured once she entered my world. She has taught me internal patience and unconditional love. I have 16 years of beautiful memories that can never be replaced!

My 7 year old who is funny, intelligent and motivated to learn! She has taught me to live free and how to enjoy the little things in life. I was much older when she came into my life and it was a bit of a struggle, but I overcame my struggles and it made me a stronger female. She is the light of the family that can bring my stress down in a second!

My husband. Being married is a fairy tale mixed with reality. He is my other half and I’m so grateful for all that he does for my daughters and I. He has taught me that no matter what happens, he is my forever and who can not be grateful for that?!

My Mother. She is a fighter! She has fought against addiction, cancer and other health problems. She continues to keep going, which I’m so grateful for! I have so many beautiful memories of her helping mold me as a child!

My Brother. He has been such a help to me as I was a single mother and even now as I’m married. How can I not be grateful for him, when he helps watch my little one (his youngest niece)! He even helps clean my house while he awaits to pick up the little one. At the end of the day, I’m grateful that he is probably one of the only souls who knows the true me.

My Father. He is smiling down from heaven and has left his legacy of his intelligence, his wit and his love of great music! Although he struggled with addiction, he never lost the love he had for his children! His hand and his heart was always open and he was always there for me whether it was to pay for college or just a much needed hug!

My career. I love, love, love teaching and I cannot say how thankful I am for having the ability to do what I do. Some people live their lives working miserably. Some work hard for years and years only to make pennies. I have been blessed to have everything wrapped into my career! I can only thank my internal will to get through college. At times, I wonder how the heck I did it, but I did and I loved every moment of it. College was honestly one of the best experiences of my life. I grew internally and learned so much during those years. It made me happy to see how proud it made my Dad while I went through college. And it obviously all paid off!

My God. There are many, many people who understands who and what “God” is all about. I am grateful that I have always had a relationship with my God and he/she has always been by my side. If you have a true relationship with your God, you understand and comprehend that love. I can share a few stories with you where I put all my faith in God when I had nothing physically or emotionally and I’ve ALWAYS, ALWAYS, been taken care of! There are not enough thank you’s for my beautiful God!

My Grandma Moralez. She was such a great Grandmother. She loved all of her grandchildren, but I truly feel we had a special relationship due to my particular teen upbringing. She took me in, she guided me, she was patient, she was funny, loving and a great cook! I love her so much that it truly still hurts that she departed to heaven. I’m beyond grateful for her for stepping up and helping me through my high school years. She taught me how to cook, clean and most importantly, how to live a life with morals and how to give all negativity to God.

Last, but not least, I’m ever so grateful for each student and school/teacher friends who have come and gone throughout my life! I began teaching as a young adult whilst learning who I was. I’ve grown into the person I am because of all those little and big students. Each one of them has taught me something even when it was nothing. Not only that, but there have been so many positive people I’ve met who stamped their knowledge onto my soul. I have a few of my school/teacher friends who I still talk to and have become life friends with! A few of my high school adult students still keep in contact with me. Now, that is gratefulness at its finest!